Is Agia a Robot?

brunians at brunians.org · 17 Jun 2010, 17:16 · from 2010-June.txt.gz

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From: brunians at brunians.org (brunians at brunians.org)
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:16:35 -0400
Subject: (urth) Is Agia a Robot?
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She and her brother are associated with Hethor, a sailor.

They are ship's robots.

Agia is Hethor's paracoita.

.


> What's ridiculous?
>
> I always read this as a description of metal hitting stone, regardless
> of the explanation. Otherwise why did Wolfe essentially say, "The sound
> of her head hitting stone was like the sound of solid metal hitting
> stone"?
>
> Head = metal. Could one have a more obvious clue? Clue to what, exactly,
> is the only open question.
>
> Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:
>> This is getting ridiculous.
>>
>> Agila must be human -- she has to be related to Severian -- after all,
>> he's sexually attracted to her...
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 9:15 AM, Ryan Dunn <ryan at liftingfaces.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Yes. And he made a point to say it made this sound DESPITE her abundant
>>> head
>>> of hair.
>>>
>>> I just can't help but wonder, ESP when coupled with Agilus's second
>>> mask.
>>>
>>> Anywho.
>>>
>>> ...ryan
>>>
>>> On Jun 17, 2010, at 11:42 AM, brunians at brunians.org wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Have you ever heard someone fall down and hit their head?
>>>>
>>>> It does not sound like the description.
>>>>
>>>> .
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> From: Ryan Dunn <ryan at liftingfaces.com>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> So I was re-reading Shadow, and noticed something I had previously
>>>>>> written off...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "I slapped her wrist, perhaps harder than I should, and she flew at
>>>>>> me,
>>>>>> clawing for my eyes as
>>>>>> Thecla used sometimes to do when she could no longer bear the
>>>>>> thoughts
>>>>>> of imprisonment and
>>>>>> pain. I pushed her away - not into a chair this time but against the
>>>>>> wall. Her head struck the
>>>>>> stone, and though it must have been padded by her abundant hair, the
>>>>>> sound was as sharp as
>>>>>> the tap of a mason's hammer."
>>>>>> (Shadow of the Torturer, Chap. 29, Agilus)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> That last line. Her head hitting the stone. The tap of a mason's
>>>>>> hammer
>>>>>> would be very tinny and
>>>>>> unusual of a human skull, don't you think?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Am I reading into this line too much, or might this be a clue as to
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> nature of these odd twins and
>>>>>> their masks upon masks?
>>>>>>
>>>>> Interesting question, but it says the sound is as "sharp" as the tap
>>>>> of a
>>>>> mason's hammer, not that it sounds the same in all ways.  I took this
>>>>> to
>>>>> mean that the sound has a sudden attack and decay, since it's between
>>>>> two
>>>>> hard surfaces, despite the apparent padding.  It's horrifying.  But I
>>>>> don't see it as suggesting a metallic sound.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jerry Friedman
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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